


Dust Coloured

by noijonas



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Curtain Fic, M/M, they live in california idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 21:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/957678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noijonas/pseuds/noijonas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael and Ashton finally move out of their respective childhood homes, and into a place they can call their own. The only way to go on is to survive the struggles, and they learn this the only reliable way- by going through the struggles themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust Coloured

It wasn't much, but both Ashton and Michael understood that this was their home now. 

They couldn't afford an apartment, and a house was out of the question. With much thought and time, they decided that they didn't need an apartment or a house. Instead, they went on a hunt for a room for rent. It took weeks, but soon enough, they found one. When they met with the homeowners, they were surprised to find that they weren't much older than Ashton. Harry and Louis, they remember being told. 

"We're not used to living alone," Louis had explained, after telling them that their previous housemates had moved on. Louis and Harry were together, which was even better for Michael and Ashton because they had expressed worries of finding someone who wouldn't want two guys living together in their house to each other only days before. 

After another two days of pure arrangement, Ashton and Michael finally moved in. They didn't have anything to start with aside from the furniture from their bedrooms, and the money they had both saved for a home that would be used for rent and necessities instead. 

It was just a basement. Nothing fancy; just a basement. Slightly colder than the rest of the house, with a steep staircase that would take time to get used to, and a dust-coloured carpet. There was four rooms in total, but a portion of the main room had been converted into a kitchen, complete with a refrigerator and oven. A living room/kitchen, a bedroom, and an uncarpeted room which contained Harry and Louis' washing machine and dryer along with a narrow door leading to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and a stand-up shower.

The first night was to become one of Ashton's favourite memories. After hauling Ashton's bedframe and mattress down the stairs and storing it in the empty bedroom, both boys got lazy. Too lazy to put the frame together, and too lazy to haul anything else. Michael dragged the mattress back out into the living room, while Ashton dug through the box of food his mother had given to them. Cooking was out of the question, since any dishes were still stored in a box in the back of Michael's car. While Michael swore behind him about forgetting blankets, Ashton decided on microwave popcorn. 

When the popcorn was finished, Ashton plucked the paper bag from the microwave and tossed it on the floor beside the mattress. Michael was sprawled over it, holding his phone above his face, scrolling. Ashton crawled next to him and plopped down with a huff, rolling over to snoop at Michael's screen. 

"You're texting your mum?" Ashton asked flatly, eyebrows furrowing as he skimmed the messages.   
"Fuck off, she just wanted to say goodnight," Michael grinned, locking his phone's screen and tossing it aside, rolling onto his side to meet Ashton's stare.   
"This is our house now, Mikey," Ashton said, his voice quiet and the corners of his mouth tugged up in a small smile, his cheeks dimpling slightly. Michael wrapped an arm around Ashton's waist and pulled him a fraction of an inch closer, before responding with an equally quiet, "Yeah, I know."

~

When he awoke, Ashton was sure that he hadn't slept- instead froze, only thawing when the morning sun shone through the small window near the ceiling. Michael's arm was still slung around him, snoring lightly. Ashton sat up, moving Michael's arm away. He was sure Michael must've still been thawing out from the cold night they'd spent on that mattress. Carefully, he stood, going to find his shoes that had been kicked off at the bottom of the staircase. Slipping them on, he made his way up the stairs, opening the door as quietly as he could. He had no idea what time it was, but the house was silent, so Ashton didn't want to take any chances of waking up his new landlords. Once outside, he took a deep breath. The air that filled his lungs was raw and cold; just as he'd expected it to be.

Parts of the ground still had tiny blankets of snow covering them, but the rest of the ground was clear now that it was nearly spring. Michael's car had grown a layer of frost overnight, and Ashton's hand left a print on the handle when he opened the back door. The back of the car was packed with boxes and bags, and Ashton had to dig before finding the bag that he'd filled with blankets and pillows. Instead of pulling them out and risking dragging them through melting snow, he pulled the entire bag out of the car, and closed the door behind him, making his way back inside. 

Ashton nearly tripped on the steep stairs on his way back into the basement, the bag of blankets masking his view of his feet. Once his feet were back on stable ground, he set down the bag, and knelt to rip it open. He grabbed the first blanket and pillow he saw, taking them to the mattress where Michael remained asleep. Sitting down, he carefully lifted Michael's head, pushing the pillow underneath. Next, he covered Michael up with the blanket, again lying down next to him. Ashton stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the fact that it was his ceiling now, and he was going to get very used to it.   
He reached for his phone, which he'd left beside the mattress on the floor, along with the now-empty popcorn bag. When he unlocked his phone, he contemplated putting it back down and simply going back to sleep. 7:42AM. Way too early to be awake on a Saturday. Ashton yawned, deciding that his phone could wait. He turned to face Michael, who hadn't even stirred since Ashton first awoke.   
Times like this were precious to Ashton. He could just stare and stare, and not have to worry about Michael saying anything about it. He studied the way Michael's shoulders slowly moved along with his breathing, and the way his hair was bent on the pillow, bound to leave a kink in it. He loved every bit of Michael, and thinking back, he was sure he fell back asleep smiling.

~

Sure enough, hours later, Michael was complaining about his hair and the way it wouldn't set while Ashton laid on his stomach, pillow stuffed beneath his chin, eyes glued to his phone. He turned to his boyfriend with a grin, laughing before teasing him with a coo of "it's adorable!" while Michael only shook his head, unamused. 

"You working today, babe?" Ashton asked, still unaware of Michael's exact schedule. Michael had to think before answering. "Yeah. 5 till 11," He told Ashton, who nodded, and pushed himself up. "Wanna bring in more stuff, then? So you can get ready?" 

Michael worked part-time in a small clothing store, in the mall that was closer to his last house than their new basement-home. Ashton had taken Michael’s nametag and stuck My Little Pony stickers onto it once, and even though they were now fading, they were still visible. Michael never bothered to try peel them off- they were a conversation starter at most. 

It only took four trips up and down the stairs to bring in all that the car carried, but unpacking was another story. While Ashton attempted to put the bedframe together, Michael started on the box of dishes, assigning them to cupboards that he found appropriate. Once the boxes labelled "dishes" was empty, Michael decided to check on Ashton, who had been whining from the bedroom for the last five minutes.  
It took another seven minutes and Ashton bruising his shin before the frame gave out. A crack of wood splitting, and Michael crying out in distress is what came afterwards.   
"Fuck! Now what?" Ashton asked, already placing the bedframe's pieces into the corner of the room to be hopefully fixed later on. Michael ran his hand through his hair, silently asking Ashton to help him put the mattress into the bedroom. 

While Michael took his first shower in that cramped bathroom, Ashton laid still on the mattress settled on the dust-coloured carpet, finding himself again studying the ceiling. It differed from the living room’s ceiling slightly, he noted, deciding that sleeping without a bedframe for a while was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd. tumblr is neorge.tumblr.com.


End file.
